Sports Game Streamers Aren't Pirates, They're Underserved Customers

US Falsely Claiming It 'Won' IP Fight With China

from the it-lost-badly dept

Tue, Jan 27th 2009 4:11pm — Mike Masnick

You may recall a few years ago that in the (still ongoing!) fight between Antigua and the US at the World Trade Organization (WTO), that the WTO came out with a ruling where the US declared immediate victory, though the details showed that actually the WTO had sided with Antigua. The US merely declared victory, and got its (wrong) story out to the press first.

It appears that's happening again.

Earlier this week, plenty of attention was paid to a WTO ruling concerning US disputes with China over a variety of intellectual property issues. The US Trade Representative quickly declared victory (pdf) and that's the story most of the folks in the press went with, claiming that this was a US victory where the WTO largely supported the US. Some even called it a major victory, while others were surprised that China seemingly was fine with the ruling.

Perhaps that's because if you actually read through the details, you realize, as Michael Geist points out, that the US actually lost very badly. There were three issues at stake -- and the only one the US "won" was the most minor of the three. On the two big issues, concerning China's border measures concerning counterfeit goods and its IP enforcement system within the country, the WTO sided strongly with China, and chastised the US for providing rather bogus "evidence" (often consisting of newspaper articles, rather than actual evidence) in support of its position. It seems like the only mainstream publication that actually bothered to read the report, rather than the USTR's "day is night" version of the events was Forbes, who notes that the USTR was being misleading in claiming victory. Of course, given how the US acted after it lost the Antigua case in the WTO, we can expect the US to appeal the ruling or... just ignore it and continue pretending the WTO actually ruled in its favor.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: china, us, us trade representative, wto
Companies: wto

13 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Mogilny, 27 Jan 2009 @ 4:24pm

Ha
Getting rid of Chinese knock offs is like trying to get rid of the common cold. IMPOSSIBLE.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Jan 2009 @ 5:10pm

Doesn't matter who won, this is simple proof that people will believe everything they read...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
:Lobo Santo, 27 Jan 2009 @ 5:15pm

Re: Ha
Hey man, Chinese knock-offs are innovation and competition!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Doh-Boy, 27 Jan 2009 @ 5:54pm

Re:
"Doesn't matter who won, this is simple proof that people will believe everything they read..."

I can't believe you said that.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mufi, 27 Jan 2009 @ 6:50pm

We can bitch and moan about fake stuff, knock offs of expensive items, but remember, we ALL use these items. What about the street vendor selling bootleg movies in NY? What about our all American Teen in Idaho uploading illegal MP3 on some P2P? Think about it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Steve, 27 Jan 2009 @ 6:55pm

While IP laws do need to be reformed. Something need to be done about the way China deals with Copywritten material. When someone can go up and buy a 2 disk pack of an artists best songs for $2, none of that money is going to people who make the material on the disk. Same thing goes when a box set of entire series, not seasons, for ~$30.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mike (profile), 27 Jan 2009 @ 7:12pm

Re:
While IP laws do need to be reformed. Something need to be done about the way China deals with Copywritten material. When someone can go up and buy a 2 disk pack of an artists best songs for $2, none of that money is going to people who make the material on the disk. Same thing goes when a box set of entire series, not seasons, for ~$30.

Actually, you should take a look closely at what's happening in the Chinese music market -- where the same thing applies. What they've done is rather than saying "something must be done" they've changed their business model... successfully.

JY Park, a successful Korean music entrepreneur says that China is one of his most lucrative markets, but he doesn't worry about selling CDs or selling music there... he focuses on sponsorships, mobile subscriptions and live performances.

So, instead of saying "something needs to be done" how about looking for ways to take advantage of the situation yourself?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lester, 27 Jan 2009 @ 8:12pm

US vs China & WTO
Very typical of the US propaganda machine!
Also it is so funny - Uncle Sam got caught with his pants down again!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dont think so, 27 Jan 2009 @ 8:36pm

Re:
Mufi -> "fake stuff, knock offs of expensive items, but remember, we ALL use these items."

Are you sure ?
Lets see here ... fake stuff? - nope ... knock offs - nope
Well, I guess you are wrong.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
US of A, 27 Jan 2009 @ 10:39pm

let see, I can't afford "Made in America" I don't have the money.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 28 Jan 2009 @ 12:29am

Worth Noting...
...that back in the 19th century, when "developed world" meant "Europe", it was places like the US making the cheap knockoffs.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
A Dan, 28 Jan 2009 @ 8:10am

Reminds me of something...
Good news! The chocolate ration is being increased to 20 grammes!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Al Eridani, 28 Jan 2009 @ 2:33pm

Re: Worth Noting...
... and ignoring the copyrights held by others.
[ link to this | view in thread ]